Combination vent cap and valve for automobile radiators



Aug. 31, 1965 D MCCORMICK 3,203,445

COMBINATION VENT CAP AND VALVE FOR AUTOMOBILE RADIATORS Filed Sept. 12,1965 8 Z9 10 if 7.! 2 Z INVENTOR.

A TTORNE YS United States Patent 3,203,445 CUMBINATION VENT CAP ANDVALVE FOR AUTOMQBHJE RAD1ATOR Maurice D. McCormick, Prospect Heights,111., assignor to The Dole Valve Company, Morton Grove, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Fiied Sept. 12, 1963, Ser. No.308,439 4 Claims.('Cl. 137-4934) This invention is primarily directed to an improvementin a vent cap construction. Vent caps are often employed as closures forthe filling conduits of automobile radiators and the like and serve tocontain pressurized fluid within the conduit. My invention pertains morespecifically to a vent cap construction in which means are provided topermit venting of the steam within the radiator to the atmosphere priorto removing the cap from the conduit.

The cap hereinafter disclosed has a button formed there on which, whendepressed, will be effective to vent the radiator to the atmospherethrough the radiator overflow tube. The cap is designed so that thebutton will remain in its depressed or venting position once it has beenmoved to that position and until the cap is removed from the radiator.Means are then provided to reset the button upon removal of the cap.

Also, the venting flow passageway through the vent cap preferably has aflow area equal to or greater than the effective flow area of theoverflow tube.

In addition, it should be borne in mind that the cap hereinafterdisclosed is also preferably adapted for the usual venting operation ofpressure caps in which a partial turn of the cap on the radiator willvent the radiator so that this new cap can be used interchangeably withprior types of caps.

It is therefore, a principle object of my invention to provide animproved closure for containing a highly pressurized fluid within aconduit which has means formed thereon to permit venting of the fluidprior to the removal of the cap from the conduit.

It is more particularly an object of my invention to provide an improvedclosure of the type often referred to as a radiator cap which will beeffective to vent steam from the conduit to the atmosphere in a mannerwhich will not harm the hands of the operator prior to removal of thecap from the conduit.

These and other objects, advantages and features of my invention willbecome apparent from time to time as the following specificationproceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view through a radiator cap constructedin accordance with the principles of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is another vertical sectional view of the cap showing variouselements thereof and a different operating position; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary horizontal plan view taken from a planeimmediately above the spider 53 in FIG- URE 1;

As shown in FIGURE 1, a vent cap is mounted on a conduit 11 to cap theconduit and to thereby prevent the passage of fluid therefrom. Theconduit 11 may constitute the filling neck of an automobile radiator andhas a reduced diameter upstream passage portion 12 and a relativelylarge diameter downstream neck 13. A flat annular shoulder 14interconnects the neck 13 with the small diameter passage 12. The neck13 has a curvilinear outturned lip 14 which terminates in a circularedge 15. A vent tube 16 opens through a wall of the neck 13 to thechamber 17 formed within the enlarged diameter neck portion 13 of theconduit 11 to communicate the chamber 17 with the atmosphere. Generallythe vent tube extends from the filling neck to a point adjacent theunder- 3,233,445 Patented Aug. 31, 1965 carriage of the auto so that thesteam can be released through the vent tube to the atmosphere at a pointnear the ground.

The vent cap 10 comprises in general a cover plate 20 having a stud 21connected thereto and depending therefrom, a valve bonnet 22 connectedto said stud 21 for axial movement relative thereto and a compressionspring 23 interposed between the cover plate 20 and the bonnet 22.

The cover plate 219 is a two-part structure including a base section 24which has a center recess 25 which, in turn, is centrally apertured at26 to receive the upper end portion of the stud 21. A shelter recess 26is formed within the upper surface of the base section 24 and serves asa seat for an upper shell 27. The shell 27 has a central upturned bead28 formed therein which defines a deep recess 29 centrally of the coverplate 20.

The stud 21 has a bore 30 formed axially therethrough which opens to thedeep well 29. The stud 21 is secured to the upper section 20 by aretaining member 31 and any suitable securing means and serves tosandwich the members 24 and 27 together to maintain them in the fixedrelation shown in the drawings.

A plunger 32 has a head 33 formed on the inner end thereof which abutsthe lower end 34 of the stud 21 and has a button 35 aflixed to the upperend thereof. A compression spring 36 is interposed between the retainer31 and the button 35 to normally bias the plunger 32 to the positionshown in FIGURE 1.

An outwardly extending flange 37 is formed on the lower end of the stud21 and has a groove 38 formed immediately adjacent to the upper surfacethereof. A spring lock 39 is mounted on the stud 21 and has one leg 40mounted on the upper surface of the flange 37 and seated Within thegroove 38 so that it is maintained in a fixed axial position relative tothe stud 21. The leg 40 curves backward on itself in the form of afinger 41 and this finger has its free end positioned in engagement withthe side wall of the enlarged plunger head 33.

As heretofore noted, the plunger is normally biased to the positionshown in FIGURE 1 by the spring 36. The spring lock 39 is formed ofspring steel or some other similar material so that when the button 35is depressed to move the plunger 32 axially downwardly the spring lock39, remaining in engagement with the enlarged head 33 of the plunger 32,will permit downward movement of the plunger. The side Wall of theenlarged head 33 is threaded or has a plurality of concentric rings 43formed thereon so that once the plunger and head 32 and 33 have beenmoved to the positions shown in FIGURE 2, the free end of the springlock. finger 41 will engage the rings on the head to prevent springurged return movement of the plunger 32.

The bonnet 22 is basically a two-part structure and includes a baseplate 44 and a hood 45. The base plate 44 is faced on its undersurfacewith a resilient annulus 46 and a small annular bracket 47 fits over thebase plate 44 and the annulus 46 to maintain these members in fixedrelation with one another and to define a port 48. Segments of theperiphery of the base plate 44 are bent upwardly and over an outturnedflange of the hood as indicated at 49 to positively secure these membersto one another. The bonnet is mounted on the stud 21 with a centeraperture 50 in the hood slidably positioned over the stud 21. Thediameter of the aperture 50 is less than that of the flange 37 so thatthe bonnet is positively maintained on the stud although it is permittedsome freedom of axial movement. It will be observed that a plurality ofapertures 51 are formed within the hood 45 so that fluid can freely passfrom the port 48 through the apertures 51 to the chamber 17.

A valve head 52 is carried on the undersurface'of the resilient annulus46 by a spider 53 and a depending pin 54. The spider 53 has a pluralityof outwardly extending fingers 55 which serve to prevent movementthereof through the port 48. A pin 54 depends from this spider andcarries the valve head 52. The valve head 52 is cupshaped inconfiguration and has an annular lip 56 formed therearound which seatsagainst the resilient annulus 46 to prevent the flow of fluid from theinterior of the conduit 12 to the port 48.

A single leaf spring 57 has its outer ends seated on the upper surfaceof the base plate 44 and is centrally secured to or abuts the spider 53to urge the valve head 52 to the position shown in FIGURE 1. The spring57 can be dispensed with entirely if a normally vented pressure caprather than a normally positive pressure cap is desired. In this casethe valve head 52 would normally remain open and would be closed only bylarge pressure build-ups in the radiator.

In operation, the valve cap is placed over the conduit with theresilient annulus 46 in engagement with the a shoulder 14 and the entirecap is then depressed to compress the spring 23 and move the bonnet andthe cover relatively closer to one another and the cap is then rotatedslightly to move a plurality of inturned fingers 59 formed on the capinto relieved portions of the generally annular rolled lip 14 until thefingers 53 underlie the edges 15 of the lip. At that point the cap willthen be secured in the position shown in FIGURE 1.

In this normal position of the cap fluid pressure within the interior ofthe relatively small diameter section 12 of the conduit may build up andthere will be no passage of fluid from this portion of the conduit tothe chamber 17 or vent tube 16. It is desirable to retain the pressurewithin the conduit 12 in order to insure that water or other liquidcontained within the radiator will not be lost under normal hot runningconditions.

When an operator desires to remove the cap however he first depressesthe button and this acts to move the plunger 32 and enlarged head 33 tothe position shown in FIGURE 2. As the enlarged head 33 moves downwardlythe head engages the upper surface of the spider 53 and moves the spideragainst the pressure of fluid within the small diameter portion of theconduit 12 and against the bias of the leaf spring 57 to the positionshown in FIGURE 2 so that the valve head 52 becomes unseated from theresilient annulus 46. The free end of spring lock finger 41 rides up andover each of the ridges or rings on the head 33 as the head movesdownwardly and is biased into engagement with the head by its inherentresiliency whereby to act as a one-way dog clutch to prevent returnmovement of the head 33 from the FIGURE 2 to the FIGURE 1 position. Whenthe valve head 52 is unseated fluid is then free to escape from thesmall diameter portion of the conduit between the lip 56 of the valvehead 52 and the annulus 46 and then through the port 48 and the aperture51 to the chamber 17 and thence through the vent tube 16 to theatmosphere. It will be observed that in venting the conduit in thismanner by depression of the button 35 no fluid is permitted to escapepast the cover plate 20. In order to insure that no seepage of highlypressurized fluid will occur at this point a spring metal baffie 60 issecured to the undersurface of the member 24 and extends freely in alateral direction a sufficient distance to engage the lip 14 of theconduit 11. The bafile is preferably formed of a noncorrosive materialsuch as phosphor bronze or spring brass. The baflle 60 may be dishedslightly and placed under a slight spring load when the cap is mountedin the position shown in FIGURE 1 to insure that a positive seal will beprovided between the baflle and the lip 14.

A very important feature of my invention resides in the fact that I haveprovided a means wherein the button 35 and its associated structure willautomatically be reset upon removal of the cap 10 from the conduit 11.In order to provide this feature I have formed a pair of upwardlyextending cars 62 on the free end of the finger 41. These ears extendupwardly from the finger 41 on each side of the head 33 and flange 37 adistance such that they can be engaged by the top surface 63 of the hood(one of the cars 62 shown in FIGURE 1 has been broken away and therebyshown only fragmentarily in order to show the cooperation between thefree end of the finger and the ridges on the head 33). It will beobserved that when the button 35 has been depressed and the enlargedhead 33 is maintained in its lowermost position by the free end of thefinger 41, the ears 62 extend upwardly a small distance past the flange37 of the stud 21. When the cap 10 is unscrewed and removed from theconduit 11 the compression spring 23 will act to bias the entire bonnet22 relatively away from the cover plate of the cap and the top 63 of thehood 45 will be moved into engagement with the free ends of the cars 62to force the finger 41 out of engagement with the rings 43 and tothereby permit the compression spring 36 to return the plunger 32 andbutton 35 to the normal position shown in FIGURE 1.

It should be understood that, if desired, the head 33 need have noserrations formed thereon so that the head can have an infinite numberof spring finger holding positions. In such an embodiment it may bedesirable to form the head of other materials than steel (materialswhich may provide a better friction grip on the fingers) but suchsubstitution of material will be evident to those skilled in this art.

In addition, in practice, the springs are balanced to the desiredpressure of the radiator system to give selective operationalcharacteristics.

It will be understood that various modifications and variations may beeffected without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A vent cap comprising a cover plate having a stud projectingoutwardly therefrom,

a bonnet mounted on said stud for axial sliding movement relativethereto having an end face extending across the projecting end of saidstud,

a port formed within said end face,

a valve member positioned so as to cover and uncover said port tocontrol the flow of fluid therethrough,

a plunger slidably mounted for axial movement within said stud andmovable to said first position to engage said valve member to move saidvalve member to a port open position,

locking means engageable with said plunger to hold said plunger in saidfirst position,

and means responsive to the position of said bonnet on said stud forreleasing said locking means to permit said valve member to be moved toa port closed position.

2. A vent cap comprising a cover plate having a stud projectingoutwardly therefrom,

a bonnet mounted on said stud for axial sliding movement relativethereto having an end face extending across the projecting end of saidstud,

a port formed within said end face,

a valve member positioned so as to cover and uncover said port tocontrol the flow of fluid therethrough,

a plunger slidably mounted for axial movement within said stud andmovable to a first position to engage said valve member to a port openposition,

a spring lock mounted on said stud and being engageable with saidplunger to hold said plunger in said firsit position,

and means engageable with said bonnet and responsive to the positionthereof on said stud for releasing said spring lock to permit said valvemember to be moved to a port closed position.

3. A vent cap comprising an upper plate having a stud projectingoutwardly therefrom,

a bonneit mounted on said stud ror actual sliding movement relativethereto having an end face extending across the projecting end of saidstud,

a port formed within said end face,

a valve member positioned so as to cover and uncover said port tocontrol the flow of fluid therethrough,

a plunger slidably mounted for axial movement within said stud andmovable to a first position to engage said valve member to move saidvalve member to a port open position,

a spring arm mounted on said stud having a free end engageable with saidplunger to hold said plunger in said first position,

a finger extending outwardly from said free end of said arm andpositioned in the path of movement of a wall of said bonnet,

whereby movement of said bonnet in one direction will act through saidfinger to release the free end of said arm from said plunger to permitsaid valve member to be moved to a port closed position.

4. A vent cap comprising a cover plate having a stud projectingoutwardly therefrom,

a bonnet mounted on said stud for axial sliding movement therealong andhaving an end face extending across the projecting end of said stud,

a port formed within said end face,

a valve head cooperable with the outer surface of said end face of saidbonnet defining said port to control |the flow of fluid through saidport and having a stem projecting from said valve head through saidport,

means biasing said valve head to a seated position on said end face,

a plunger slidably mounted for axial movement within said stud andmovable into engagement with said stem to unseat said valve head fromsaid end face,

a roughened side surface on the outer end of said plunger,

a spring arm mounted on said s tuds having a free end engageable withthe said roughened surface of said plunger to hold said plunger in avalve head unseating position,

a finger extending outwardly from said free end of said arm andpositioned in the path of movement of a wall of said bonnet,

whereby movement of said bonnet in one direction will act through saidfinger to release {the free end of said arm from said plunger to permitsaid valve member to be moved to a port closed position, biasing meansurging said bonnet for movement in said one direction, and means forcounteracting said biasing means and urging said bonnet in an oppositedirection on said stud.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/52 Levell137-493.4 XR 7/63 Comtella l37493.2 XR

1. A VENT CAP COMPRISING A COVER PLATE HAVING A STUD PROJECTINGOUTWARDLY THEREFROM, A BONNET MOUNTED ON SAID STUD FOR AXIAL SLIDINGMOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO HAVING AN END FACE EXTENDING ACROSS THEPROJECTING END OF SAID STUD, A PORT FORMED WITHIN SAID END FACE, A VALVEMEMBER POSITIONED SO AS TO COVER AND UNCOVER SAID PORT TO CONTROL THEFLOW OF FLUID THERETHROUGH, A PLUNGER SLIDABLY MOUNTED FOR AXIALMOVEMENT WITHIN SAID STUD AND MOVABLE TO SAID FIRST POSITION TO ENGAGESAID VALVE MEMBER TO MOVE SAID VALVE MEMBER TO A PORT OPEN POSITION,LOCKING MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PLUNGER TO HOLD SAID PLUNGER IN SAIDFIRST POSITION,